


Now He's Gone

by BenTylerShook



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Death, I love Elmer, Implied Crutchie/Jack/Davey, M/M, depressing shit, i just like completely fucking forgot to include it, im sorry, sprace isn’t mentioned but it’s there, this hurt me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-07-10 14:30:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19907263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BenTylerShook/pseuds/BenTylerShook
Summary: “What thefuckhappened?” She asks, voice low.“Rally gone wrong.” Albert answers, through tears, “He got it the worst, second to Crutchie. It’s just not fair, Dil. Why did it have to be him?”





	Now He's Gone

**Author's Note:**

> i had an urge to kill and i couldnt do it on main so here's this
> 
> i promise i love elmer
> 
> ft. my OC, Armadillo

It was a normal morning for Armadillo. She woke up before the rest of the house, like always, made breakfast with whatever scraps of food they had, woke up the littles (with the help of Hotshot), ate a few bites, got her 50 papers, and started selling. She had only been selling for about an hour when she hears someone yelling her name. The voice sounded familiar. She turns around, seeing the outline of a tall, skinny, newsboy. _Is that Race?_

“Race?” She yells back, confused, “what are you doing here?” As the boy gets closer, she can more clearly make out his bright blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. When he finally catches up to her, sweaty and out of breath, she notices his lack of cigar. 

“Where’s your- did you fucking run here, you dumbass?” she asks incredulously, chuckling.

“Dil, it’s Elmer,” Race responds, more serious than Dil has heard him in a long time. Her face goes white, any and all semblance of humour gone. 

“It’s not good,” he continues, “he got soaked and won’t wake up and-” Dil doesn’t give him a chance to finish, throwing down her papers and sprinting to the Manhattan Lodging house. 

She makes it across the bridge in record time, expertly navigating to the lodging house, bursting through the door, effectively running into Specs, knocking the dark boy over, his glasses falling.

“Ow!” He exclaims, gathering himself and looking for his glasses. Dil finds and picks them up, returning them to Specs quickly, 

Thanks, Ra-” he looks up, glasses back on his face, a cold expression replacing the previously grateful, “oh, it’s you. What are you doing here? What, it takes Elmer on his deathbed for you to show back up?” 

“I don’t have time for this, Specs. Now let me see my _brother._ ” Her voice is firm and desperate, leaving no room for argument. 

“Specs, move!” Dil hears Race say from behind her. Specs rolls his eyes and moves out of the way, allowing Dil to run upstairs. She makes it up, only tripping once, and bursts into the room Elmer is it. She gasps at the sight of him. There is her big brother, beaten to the point of unrecognizability, laying almost lifeless on the bed, Albert at his side. She rushes to the other side of the bed.

“What the _fuck_ happened?” She asks, voice low. 

“Rally gone wrong.” Albert answers, through tears, “He got it the worst, second to Crutchie. It’s just not fair, Dil. Why did it have to be him?” He whimpers, looking up at her. She spares him a glance, opening her mouth to speak, but shutting it quickly. She makes note of the pure love and adoration that fills his eyes when he’s looking at Elmer, looking back to the sleeping figure in front of her. 

She watches the shallow rise and fall of Elmer’s chest for a few moments before falling into a chair. She grabs Elmer’s free hand, gently. 

As she sits there, she remembers the time when she was sick. She remembers how Elmer wouldn’t leave her side for days. He sat there, sometimes telling Dil about something stupid Race did, or about Albert, sometimes just being there. It took Albert dragging him away, promising he could come back later, for him to get out and sell. As the memory fades, she realizes she started crying. 

“He’s goin’ to be okay, though, right? He’s going to make it?” She chokes out, looking up at Albert again. Another sob rips through Albert and he shrugs. She looks back at Elmer. 

“I’m going to kill Spot. If he didn’t have to be so fucking high and mighty all the time this never would’ve happened. We could’ve come and helped and stopped this from happening. God, I’m so sorry, El.” By the time she’s done talking, she’s near sobbing, quickly wiping her eyes. At some point during her rant, Elmer’s eyes fluttered open ever so slightly. 

“Don’t- don’t blame yourself,” he manages to say, his voice raspy and weak. 

“El, baby, don’t talk. Save your strength and stay alive, _please._ ” Albert begs, cupping Elmer’s face and gently stroking his cheek. Elmer nods to the best of his ability, and Dil is about to open her mouth to say something when Race barges into the room. 

“Elmer! You’re awake! Thank god-” he breathed a sigh of relief, stumbling over and sitting in a chair next to Dil. 

“How do you feel-?” Race asks, voice softer than normal. Elmer shrugs in response, wincing. 

“Like death” Elmer mutters, coughing. He keeps coughing, not stopping long enough to take a breath.

“Breathe, El, breathe. Try to breathe.” Dil begs as Race stands up to get a cup of water. When he returns, Elmer has finally stopped coughing, now taking laborious breaths. 

“Can you sit up?” Race asks him, sitting back down. Elmer nods and sits up, with the help of Albert and Dil, wincing. Race offers him the cup and he takes it, taking a small sip and handing it to Albert, who places the cup on a small table next to the bed before helping Elmer lie back down.

“Allie,” Elmer breaths, squeezing Albert hand.

“Yeah, El?” he responds.

“Keep carryin’ the banner. Through it _all_. Please.” He begs. Albert nods, a tear falling off his face, onto Elmer’s arm.

“Dil, E,” he says quietly. She winces at the sound of his voice, weak and frail, and responds. 

“Yeah, El?” she sits up in her seat a little, squeezing Elmer’s hand gently. 

“Buy yaself that apartment and raise a family for me, will ya?” By the time he finishes speaking, his voice is practically to a whisper, and his eyes have closed again. His chest rises and falls once more before suddenly stopping. Like a flame that flickers out too soon, he died. 

“Elmer! Elmer, don’t die on me you asshole! Elmer!” She sobs, clutching Elmer’s hand. She hears Albert sob and Race call for someone, maybe everyone, she couldn’t tell with everything going on around her blending together as her world crashes around her. _He’s gone. No. He can’t be gone. He’s alive. He’s asleep. He can’t be gone. He can’t be gone. He can-_ She’s interrupted by the slam of the door against the wall. 

“Oh my god-” Dil hears an unfamiliar voice gasp. She looks over as the boy, tall and better dressed than the rest of them, no older than Jack, walks over to the bed, jaw to the floor, eyes quickly filling with tears. Soon the room is full of the rest of the boys, all crying and comforting each other. 

“Wh-where’s Jack?” Dil asks the room later, when they’ve moved to the main lounging area, none of them being able to stomach looking at Elmer much longer. An awkward silence fills the room, save for some sniffles, before someone clears their throat. 

“He, uh, he’s gone. Missing.” The new boy informs her, voice sad. “He ran when Crutchie got, uhm, taken. Snyder beat him and took him to the refuge” It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it. Dil looks at him in shock. 

“Oh my god- that’s awful,” she gasps, quietly. It’s quiet for a while before Albert speaks up. 

“We need to do something for him. Elmer, I mean. I know we can’t afford a proper funeral, but we need to do something.” There are various noises of agreement from around the room. 

“We’re going to have to call someone to take his body,” the new boy starts again, “but we can have a small memorial. Maybe something bigger later on when Jack and Crutchie are back.” 

“New boy’s right-” 

“Davey.” He corrects her. 

“Oh, thanks. Davey’s right,” Dil says, “We need to wait for Jack and Crutchie to do something bigger- but we should do something smaller before then, while we have his body.” She chokes up, but forces herself to not cry. She’s done too much of that. 

Later that evening, they plan a small gathering for before the body is taken, just to say a proper goodbye, opting to wait until after the strike and after they get Jack and Crutchie back to have a bigger memorial. Dil stays the night in Manhattan, instead of going back to Brooklyn. _Brooklyn can wait._

Numb. That’s the only way to describe how Dil felt the next morning. She woke up before everyone, like she does everyday, but unlike usual, she goes back to sleep, unable to muster up enough energy to get up. They all get a slow start that morning. With Jack and Crutchie being gone and Davey having to stay with his family, no one was able to drag themselves out of bed when they needed to, and no one was there to make them. They also knew they would deeply regret not selling that morning, but in the moment no one could bring themselves to care. 

When Davey and Les show up at the circulation gate to see it empty, Davey was worried, to say the least. He’d never seen the boys just skip selling. Granted he’d only known them for the better part of a week, but he knew these boys were not ones to miss out on making money. He grabbed Les and went to the lodging house. At first, he knocked, but after receiving no answer, let himself and Les in, making a beeline for the bunk room. He quietly opens the door, walking in and frowning at what he sees. He sits Les down in a chair and walks over to the few bunks (on the opposite side of the room from Elmer) that all the boys, plus Dil, have shoved themselves into. 

“C’mon, guys. You gotta get up. I know it hurts, but you can’t stay in bed all day. Besides it _stinks_ in here.” He reasons. There are various grunts that come from the piles, no one making any effort to actually get up. 

“Someone’s going to be coming to pick him up very shortly. If you guys want to say goodbye you need to get up.” Again, no response. David sighs and walks over to the closest people mountain, grabbing Romeo, who happens to be at the top of the lump, and dragging him out of the bed. He does the same with everyone else, getting them all and of bed and into the small kitchen to eat. Once they’ve all eaten, no one saying so much as a few words to each other, they bring Elmer outside and wait for the carriage to come pick him up. 

Half an hour later, they’ve all said their goodbyes, save for Albert and Dil. No one making it through it without crying again.

“Can we have a moment with him? Alone?” Albert speaks up for the first time that day. His voice is hoarse and quiet from crying and his lack of talking. Davey decides that a trip to Jacobi’s could do them good, and they all go, leaving Albert and Dil. The second they’re out of site, Albert falls to his knees, sobbing. 

“He was so young. It’s just not _fair!_ ” He sobs. Dil sits next to him, her own eyes starting to get wet. 

“You really loved him, didn’t you?” She asks, her voice quiet and soft. She knew how much Elmer loved Albert, and she really did know how much Albert loved Elmer in return. Albert nods with a sniffle. 

“Yeah. I really did. Still do. I don’t think I’m ever going to love someone like I di- _do_ him.” He replies, looking over at her. She gives him a small smile, looking back over at Elmer. 

“I- I don’t know what I'm going to do without him. All our lives it’s been us against the world. Even in Brooklyn, I still saw him almost everyday. I knew he was here and would be when I needed him. Now he’s gone and I don’t know what to do.” She’s sobbing now, wiping her face on her already damp sleeve. 

“Come ba-” Right as Albert starts to speak, the carriage pulls up. They both say their final goodbyes and watch as Elmer’s cold, lifeless body is carted away. They stand there, crying, for a few moments before Dil speaks up. 

“I should head back to Brooklyn, Spot is probably wondering where I’ve been. I’ll be back soon.” She says, reluctantly. Albert nods, seemingly understanding. She gives him a quick hug before heading in the direction of Brooklyn. Albert watches her for a few seconds before turning and starting the short walk to Jacobi’s. 

When he arrives at Jacobi’s, his crying has mostly seized. He walks in and silently sits in an empty booth, not noticing the commotion his fellow Newsies are causing. 

“Albert! Albert, guess what!” He barely hears Race shout. It takes Race calling his name a few more times for him to muster the energy to actually respond. 

“What, Racer?” He mutters. 

“We’s in the papes! We’s famous!” He declares. 

“Yeah? And what of it, huh?” He snaps. He knows Race doesn’t deserve it, but Elmer is gone and Race is too happy for Alberts liking. It seems to go unnoticed by the blonde, though.

“Albie, when ya famous, the woild is ya erster!” Albert winces. _Elmer used to call me that…_ He doesn’t even bother trying to understand what on Earth Racetrack is trying to say. He just forces a smile. 

“That’s great Race.” The boy in question seems satisfied with that response, turning back to the boys, spewing some shit about being the king of New York. He stares at the table in front of him for a while, the remembering different things about Elmer that made him Elmer. _His Elmer._ He has no idea how long he’s been there, lost in his head, when he feels a body slide in the booth next to him. He feels a hand rubbing up and down his neck and looks over to see Katherine. She gives him a small smile and mouths a simple, _‘I’m sorry’_. He nods, lying his head on her shoulder and silently crying.

Later that day, when they’ve all gone back at lodging, Dil barges into the house. 

“Brooklyn’s in,” she blurts. That catches the attention of Davey. 

“What?” He asks, stunned.

“Brooklyn is joinin’ the strike. Spot agreed to help yous guys.” She repeats. There are quiet cheers from around the room, with Albert asleep on Romeo’s shoulder. 

“How?!” Davey gasps, pleasantly confounded. 

“I talked to, well more like yelled at, him. I told him about, uh, my brother and he realized the severity of it all and caved. He said, and I quote, _‘next event they can count on Brooklyn’._ ” She explains. Davey stands up and walks over to Dil, putting his hands on her shoulders. 

“Thank you.” Is all he says. She gives him an awkward smile before saying a quick goodbye to everyone and leaving again. 

That night, the boys planned a rally. A citywide meeting, after working hours. And they wanted to have it in Medda’s theater. David also planned for him, Katherine, and Les would go looking for Jack the next morning. They wouldn’t stop until they’ve found him. And they didn’t. And they eventually did find him in Medda’s theatre. About an hour later, Jack is rushing into lodging, finding Albert and swallowing him in a bear hug. Despite the circumstances, Albert hugs back. 

“I’m so sorry, Albert. I’m so sorry. We’re going to win this for him. If it’s the last thing we do.” Jack promised him.

“Newsies of New York City, _we won!_ ” Jack yells from the balcony. As soon as the words leave his mouth, said Newsies descend into chaos, jumping and cheering. Everyone is silenced when Theodore Rooselvelt announces another surprise. 

“Officers, if you please,” he demands, gesturing across the street. They all look over, and see Crutchie waddling over. 

“Hey! Jack, look! It’s Crutchie!” Race exclaims. 

They all welcome Crutchie back with hugs, eventually gathering back at Jacobi’s, Dil tagging along. 

“Hey, guys, where’s Elmer?” Crutchie asks, looking around for Elmer. Albert and Dil share a look before Albert clears his throat to speak. 

“He, uh, he didn’t make it much past the rally.” He answers, quietly. Crutchie’s jaw drops and he looks like he’s near tears. 

“What? No, that can’t be-” he gasps. All it takes is a nod from both Albert and Dil for him to break, crying into Jack’s shoulder, Davey rubbing his back. Silent dears start to fall from Albert’s eyes, Dil biting her lip, forcing herself not to cry. 

“Now that he’s gone, we need to stick together. It’s going to be rough, the next few weeks. We need to be there for each other.” Jack says, voice low. There’s a silent agreement from the group. 

“And you, Dil,” he starts, “you’re welcome to stay here whenever you need.” She nods and smiles at him.

“Thank you, Jack.” 

It wasn’t going to be easy, and it definitely wasn’t going to be quick. But they were going to get through this. Together. 

“It’s what Elmer would have wanted.” Jack responds, quietly.

**Author's Note:**

> i get to keep my kneecaps
> 
> elmer is babey and i love him i swear


End file.
